Sheet dispensing device



March 23, 1965 J. w. CARLSON sam- DISPENSING osvxcs:

Filed Oct. 24, 1960 INVENTOR: JOHN W. CARLSON ATT'YS United StatesPatent 3,174,643 S EET EiSlENEeHQGDEVRIE John. W? (Imlson, hicago, ill,assignor to Speed-@Print Business Machines (Iorperation, a corporationof Iilinois Filed Get. 24, 19 h), Ser. No. 64,340 4 (Iiairns;((32.221-41) This invention, in general, relates to devices fordispensing sheets of paper and tie like from a container. Moreparticularly, the invention relates to improvements in devices fordispensing sheets of paper and the like from a container in which thesheets of paperor the like are stacked in superposed relationship. Animportant aspect of the invention is concerned with improvements insheet dispensing devices for storing and dispensing light-sensitivepaper.

Known devices for dispensing sheets of paper from a stack of papercontained in the devices include those which are essentially a closedcontainer having a narrow slit in one wall through which the paper isdispensed by a dispensing mechanism. One of. the problems observed inthe devices utilizing the narrow slit is that paper which is curled atthe edges will not dispense readily through the narrow slit. Also, inthe case of devices for storing and dispensing light-sensitive paper,the narrow slit admits a small amount of light into the interior of thecontainer which can gradually deteriorate the photographic qualities ofthe paper.

Briefly, this invention relates to sheet dispensing devices in which arestored sheets of paper or the like in stack form. A sheet dispensingmeans functioning within the container in which the paper is stored and.operable by a handle or the like accessible on the outside of thecontainer is employed to push one sheet at a time from the stack towarda wall of the container through which the sheet is dispensed. This wallis a downwardly sloping wall pivotally hinged to the top wall of thecontainer and converging with the bottom wall of the container to formin cross-section an acute angle. By making the pivotable wall light inweight, it can be raised by the sheet dispensed a suflicient amount topermit the sheet to pass between the pivotable'wall and the bottom wallof the container. in the aspect of the invention related to-the storageand dispensing of light-sensitive paper, the junctures of the variouswalls of the container are constructed. so as to be substantiallylight-tight.

It is an object of this invention to provide improvements in theconstruction of containers for the dispensing of sheets of paper fromsaid containers.

Another object of the invention is to provide improvements in sheetdispensing devices for storing and dispensing light-sensitive. papers.

Another object of the invention is to provide improvements in theopenings of containers through which lightsensitive paper is dispensed.

A still further object of the invention is to provide an economicaldevice for dispensing sheets of paper and the like from a stack storedin the container.

()ther objects of the invention will be apparent to those of ordinaryskill in the art from the description of the invention, a specificembodiment of which isillustrated in the drawing wherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a sheet dispensing device constructed inaccordance with the invention wherein the lid of the device is closed;

FIG. 2 is a similar perspective view with the lid open;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged, fragmentary view of the dispensing end of thesheet dispensing device of FIG. 1 with the corners of the flexible sheetedge turned back for purposes of better illustration;

3,174,543 Patented Mar. 23,. 1965 FIG; 4 is a broken, cross-sectionalview takenon section 4- 1- of FIGJ; and

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary cross-sectional view taken on section 5-5 ofFIG. 2.

Referring to the drawing, the sheet dispensing device designatedgenerally by the numeral 1 is an essentially closed container in theposition illustrated in FIG. 1. It is made of light gauge sheet metal orthe. like with a bottom wall 2., a side wall 3, a rear wall 4 and. asidewall- 5, the latter three walls'being disposed at substantially rightangles to the bottom wall. The-top. wall ot the container consists of alid 7 having downwardly depending side flanges 8 and 9 which overlapwalls 3 and 5, respectively, when the lid is closed. The front orforward. edge of lid- 7-has aslightly downwardly offset sec.- tion Itthe oifset of which is preferably a distance at least equal to thethickness of: the flexible strip l z. The flexible strip 12 ispreferably a single strip of flexible material, such as a heavy fabric,plastic sheeting or the like; In the'case of containers forphoto-sensitive paper, it is preferred that the flexible strip 12 islightimpermeable. The flexible strip 12 istightly bonded. to the offsetsegment it of the lid 7 along one side thereof and tightly adhered alongthe other" side thereof to the front Wall 11. This flexible strip servesas a hinge which pivotally connects the front wall'll to the lid '7.Instead of the unitary flexible strip 12, there may also be used aplurality of flexible strips spaced-- along the juncture between the lid7 and the front-wall 11 to form a hinge similar to that given bytheunitary flexible fabric strip 12. Other well-known hinge connectionscan also be used in place of the fabric strip 12, although, in general,such hinges are substantially more light-permeable than is the hingemade by the unitary fabric strip 12. when it is made oflight-impermeable material.

The foremost edge l i of: the lid 7 and its offset segmeat It) is bentdownwardly to form a downwardly sloping strip 14' along the front edgeof the lid.. The slope of the strip 14 makes it approximately parallelwith. the front wall 11 when the latter is in they closed position asillustratedin FIGS. 1, 3 and 4. The uppermost edge 17 of the front wall11 overlapsthe sloping strip l iof the lid 7. This overlappingrelationship keepszthe front wall 11 in substantially the same angularrelationship to the lid 7 when the lid 7 i raised as shown in FIG. 2, asthese parts have when the rounded, :degreereverse bend lips 15 and'fd ofthe front wall and bottom Wall; respectively, are in contactingrelationship as illustrated in FIGS. 3 and 4. The foremost or front edgeof the bottom wall 2 has a. slightly upturned strip 13 forming aconverging juncture with'the front wall 11. In apreferred form of theinvention, the rounded edge of the front. wall. 11 slightly overlaps therounded edge of the strip 13 of the bottom wall 2, because thisrelationship gives a better'seal against the admission. of'lig-ht in thecontainer 1 than does the instance where the rounded edges 15 audio aresubstantially coextensive.

The front wall 11 has at each end 'thereof'trian-gularshaped end Walls18' which overlap the downwardly sloping front. edges. 19' of: the sidewall 5 and-the wall 26 to give a better sealed juncture against theadmission of light. A portion of the end wall 18 overlaps the flange 3of die lid 7 when the front wall 11 is in the downwardly slopingposition. Lid 7 is hinged to rear Wall 4 by a pair of hinges 2%.Recesses 21 are placed in the upper edge of the rear wall 4 toaccommodate the plates of hinges 20.

The ejecting mechanism by means of which the sheet material is dispensedfrom the top of the stack forms no part of the present invention exceptinsofar as it may form a part of the entire combination. It is fullydescribed in my copending application Serial No. 838,249, filedSeptember 4, 1959, and does not need to be described in detail here foran understanding of the present invention. However, it will be describedbriefly here in order that a complete understanding of the device may behad.

One side of the lid 7 has a vertically disposed wall 22 offset to therear of the front edge of the front wall 11. The wall 22 has asemicircular recess 23 which fits over and receives a cylindrical shaft24 when the lid 7 is in the closed position. A push-pull operatinghandle 25 is connected to the shaft 24. The shaft 24 is positioned in aguide channel formed between the side wall 3 and the parallel wall 26.

A bracket 27 has downwardly depending ears 28 pivotally mounted on theshaft 24 so that the bracket 27 is pivotable on the shaft 24 and can beraised and lowered with respect to the bottom wall 2 of the container 1.The shaft 24 telescopes over a shaft 29 fixedly mounted on the rear wall4 and extending inwardly at right angles thereto. The latter shaftfunctions as a guide for the reciprocal movement of the shaft 24 and theparts attached thereto. A compression spring 30, placed about the shaft24, acts under compression against the vertical wall 31 through whichthe shaft 24 extends and the ear 28 of bracket 27. The bracket 27 isretained from being pushed off the shaft 24 by a washer 32 welded orbrazed on the end of the shaft 24.

Another bracket 33 is mounted on the other end of the bracket 27 bymeans of loose-fitting rivets 34, which permit the bracket 33 to pivotslightly with respect to the bracket 27. The bracket 33 has a pair ofrearwardly bent beads 35, each forming an elongated opening serving as ajournal with axle 36. Longitudinally serrated rollers 37 are frictionfitted on axle 36. When the bracket 33 moves in a rearward direction,the rollers 37 and axle 36 slide in the elongated bearings formed bybeads 35 away from the front edge 38 of the bracket 33. In thisposition, the axle and rollers rotate in the journal bearings. When thebracket 33 is moved in a forward direction, the axle 36 and the rollers37 shift toward the edge 38 whereupon the serrations on the rollers 37catch on the edge 38 and preclude rotation of the rollers. In thisrelationship, the rollersfrictionally engage the uppermost sheet in thecontainer 1 and push it toward the front wall 11. The front or foremostedge of the paper is guided by the converging walls 11 and/or 13 towardthe juncture of the lips 15 and 16. The front wall 11 raises slightlyunder the pressure of the paper and the paper exits from the container1.

The container 1 is loaded with sheets, such as lightsensitive paper, byraising the lid 7 and the bracket 33 on pivotally mounted bracket 27. Astack of sheets is placed in the container. The side wall and the wall26 have mounted thereon blocks of pliable material, such as a foamsynthetic plastic, foam rubber and the like. The spacing between pliableblocks 39 and 40 is slightly less than the length of the sheets placedin the container. The stack of sheets is bent at the middle and thedownwardly hanging ends are inserted between the pliable blocks 39 and40. The stack is then permitted to settle so that the edges of thesheets are in contact with the blocks 39 and 40. The pliable blocks 39and 40 function to hold the stack of sheets in the container when thetop sheet of the stack is dispensed in the dispensing cycle previouslydescribed.

For sake of illustration, assume that the distance between blocks 39 and40 accommodates sheets of legal size paper. In order to also provide fordispensing from the container 1 of ordinary letter size paper, there isprovided a removable insert plate 41, a portion of which is slit onthree sides to form an upstanding wall 42 by bending upwardly the slitsection. The wall 42 has a block of pliable material 43 similar to theblocks 39 and 40 and is spaced a distance from the block 40 slightlyless than the length of a letter size sheet. The block 43 functions withrelation to letter size paper in the same manner as the block 39functions with relation to legal size paper. The plate 41 has a recess44 cut out along an edge thereof to accommodate the block 39 when theremovable plate 41 is inserted in the container 1.

The foregoing specific embodiment of the invention herein describedandillustrated is but one example of various modifications of sheetdispensing devices contemplated by this invention, the scope of which isdefined in the following appended claims.

The invention is hereby claimed as follows:

1. A sheet dispensing device comprising a container having rear, side,top and bottom walls and a downwardly and outwardly sloping front wallwhich meets said bottom wall at an acute angle to form a substantiallyclosed container, the front edge portion of said top wall slopingdownwardly approximately parallel with said front wall, the top edgeportion of said front wall overlapping said downwardly sloping frontedge portion of said top wall in overlying relation thereto, hinge meansconnecting said top edge portion of said front wall and said top wallwhereby said front wall is pivotable with respect to said top wall, andmeans in said container for ejecting between said pivotable front walland said bottom wall a sheet from a stack of sheets placed in saidcontainer.

2. The device of claim 1 wherein the front edge portion of said bottomwall slopes upwardly toward said downwardly sloping front wall.

3. A sheet dispensing device comprising a container having rear, side,top and bottom walls, and a downwardly and outwardly sloping front wallwhich meets said bottom wall at an acute angle to form a substantiallyclosed container, the front edge portion of said top wall slopingdownwardly approximately parallel with said front wall, the top edgeportion of said front wall overlapping said front edge portion of saidtop wall in overlying relation thereto, a strip of flexible materialbonded to said top wall and said front wall to form a hinge connectingsaid last-mentioned walls, and means in said container for ejectingbetween said pivotable front wall and said bottom wall a sheet from astack of sheets placed in said container.

4. The device of claim 3 wherein said strip of flexible material is astrip of substantially light-impermeable fabric which extends across thelength of said top edge portion of said front wall.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS

1. A SHEET DISPENSING DEVICE COMPRISING A CONTAINER HAVING REAR, SIDE,TOP AND BOTTOM WALLS AND A DOWNWARDLY AND OUTWARDLY SLOPING FRONT WALLWHICH MEETS SAID BOTTOM WALL AT AN ACUTE ANGLE TO FORM A SUBSTANTIALLYCLOSED CONTAINER, THE FRONT EDGE PORTION OF SAID TOP WALL SLOPINGDOWNWARDLY APPROXIMATELY PARALLEL WITH SAID FRONT WALL, THE TOP EDGEPORTION OF SAID FRONT WALL OVERLAPPING SAID DOWNWARDLY SLOPING FRONTEDGE PORTION OF SAID TOP WALL IN OVERLYING RELATION THERETO, HINGE MEANSCONNECTING SAID TOP EDGE PORTION OF SAID FRONT WALL AND SAID TOP WALLWHEREBY SAID FRONT WALL IS PIVOTABLE WITH RESPECT TO SAID TOP WALL, ANDMEANS IN SAID CONTAINER FOR EJECTING BETWEEN SAID PIVOTABLE FRONT WALLAND SAID BOTTOM WALL A SHEET FROM A STACK OF SHEETS PLACED IN SAIDCONTAINER.